Month: September 2013

  • Stuff and the Best Laid Schemes o' Mice an' Men

    I was up at 6 a.m. and by 8 o'clock I was at the hospital to see my cardiologist for my 6 month check up. I didn't know it would turn out to be a 5 hour appointment! The doctor will be putting a stent in my right coronary artery...the one with 100% blockage. Since I hadn't taken medicine or had anything to eat or even to drink except a little water after brushing my teeth, they gave me a stress test and also checked my carotid arteries....plaque build up there too.

    "Dr. IQ", he has a most unusual name so everyone working with him just use the first two letters of it,....anyway, he says I'm doing really very well considering the extent of my coronary artery disease. I've never had angina pain or some of the other symptoms usually associated with CAD. However, I have sometimes felt light headed, which is one of the symptoms...sometimes that is just from dehydration. So everyone SHOULD heed our First Lady Michelle Obama's message to drink more water! After all, it is the best of all thirst quenchers and has no calories, plus drinking more H/2O improves regularity and one's skin too. And the price is right too!

    I spent time on the treadmill for the stress test to get my heart rate up to 118...walking fairly fast uphill did it finally. The other part of the test...lying down with arms and hands resting above the head...piece of cake easy. Pictures of my heart were taken automatically while the camera thingy sort of moved slowly over my torso. I almost fell asleep during those two times! But I was worn out by the time I got home this afternoon and kept nodding off. I decided to forego the ladies' bible study meeting tonight at church and just rest. I skipped the cardio rehab place since I figured I had lots of exercise in by walking in our large hospital....in trying to find the cafeteria and getting to and from the parking garage area, etc.!

    I suppose my surgery will be scheduled sometime later this month. And this will no doubt nix any of my plans to sell my condo and move to PA before cold weather begins. That's okay....really gives me more time to dispose of stuff I'm not taking with me when I DO sell and move. I'm hoping my three daughters will take some of the things to their homes and families...some of the good stuff anyway! I plan to keep cleaning and separating stuff in the closets and on the shelves....stuff I must keep....stuff I'd like to keep....and stuff I will never miss! That's life...it's messy sometimes....cluttered with too much unnecessary stuff.

    Life is "iffy" at times, and we roll with the punches and must accept and be willing to change plans. This reminds me of the famous line in the poem by Robert Burns: "The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy!" (Not that I'll experience pain or be grieving over disposing of a lot of the "stuff" I have or revising plans made.)